The Courts

The parties appealing Texas U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling in the high-profile challenge to the Affordable Care Act now have until Feb. 8 to respond to House Democrats’ motion to intervene at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Officials with Families USA wrote in a Health Affairs blog Thursday (Jan. 24) that CMS needs to rewrite the objective of Medicaid to successfully respond to legal challenges to Medicaid work requirements, as advocates for those suing over the requirements say the coverage losses in Arkansas, and expected losses in Kentucky, show that the waivers do not further the point of the program.

The judge overseeing the federal lawsuit challenging Kentucky’s plan to implement Medicaid work requirements denied a request from the Department of Justice to put the case indefinitely on hold during the partial government shutdown.

Federal DC District Judge John Bates is slated to hear oral arguments Thursday (Jan. 24) on the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss or move to judgment the lawsuit brought by 12 Democratic attorneys general over the Trump administration’s final association health plan (AHP) rule.

Several Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Tuesday (Jan. 15) about CMS’ authority to issue legal interpretations that affect Medicare reimbursements without going through notice-and-comment rulemaking.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, as expected, granted the Department of Justice’s request to stay proceedings in the high-profile case over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The Supreme Court on Monday (Jan. 7) heard oral arguments on a drug labeling case over whether drug maker Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. should be held liable for injury to consumers even after FDA rejected the company’s proposal to include on its drug label warnings about potential fractures that could be caused by the osteoporosis drug Fosamax.

The new power split in Washington means much of 2019 will be spent on congressional oversight of the Trump administration’s health care actions, starting with its decision to not fully defend the health law from a constitutional challenge, as well as hearings on potential next steps in transforming the health system but likely little action.

The group of Democratic attorneys general intervening to fully defend the Affordable Care Act from the constitutional challenge have formally appealed Texas U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor’s controversial decision that, if upheld, would strike the entire law.